Chapter 5: The Choice
By the time Gumball returned home it was completely dark. At 6 p.m. the only sources of light were the lamps set off in the street, and the glow of the Christmas lights strung on the houses of Elmore residents. It was hard to get any other source of light at that hour, especially when clouds covered part of the sky. What surprised the cat was that, as he walked back, it seemed that the clouds had parted, as he could see part of the dark blue canvas on the mountain above him, which symbolised the winter night sky. Thanks to these dark blue patches, he could see that there were very few clouds left in the sky compared to what there were an hour and a half ago when he handed out the pizzas.
Gumball came home all hot and tired and proud of himself for completing his task. After a day's walk, all the cat wanted was a bed, a duvet and his pyjamas so he could rest. His aching legs now did not even allow him to walk fast, because they were so tired that just walking made it difficult for him! He touched his pocket every few steps to make sure that all the money was in place and he hadn't accidentally lost it on the way. He was very prudent and he knew it, so he took the highest level of concentration and precaution against loss. After all, if he lost his earnings, he would feel even worse than if no one were to get presents! Fortunately, when he stood in front of the entrance to the house he checked his pockets and counted the money in his pocket and the amount matched - to the dollar. The extra tip he received added $50 to his wallet, which was always something. It was a lot of money for him, but the real thing was $500! Gumball had probably never seen so much money at once in his life, let alone touched it or - best of all - had that much! Gumball readjusted his clothes on, then opened the door to the house.
Opening the door Gumball was met with a rather surprising sight for him. The whole family was sitting on the sofa, but they weren't watching TV. They all looked worried, Nicole was holding her phone in her hands as if waiting for some kind of message or something. Simultaneously with the sound of the door opening and the blue cat appearing in it, everyone turned towards it and sighed in relief.
"Gumball Watterson!" Shouted Nicole angrily. She got up from the sofa and walked over to Gumball, who, heavily embarrassed, stripped out of his clothes and put them away in the wardrobe. Gumball was baffled by the situation. After all, he had "said" he was going to meet Penny.
"Where have you been? We were all worried! You think you can just go wherever you want and come back whenever you want!" She spoke in a clearly loud and upset tone towards her son. Sparks were visible in her eyes and her lowered eyebrows aggressively clearly indicated that she was almost in a rage. Gumball looked at the rest of the family - they didn't look happy either.
"I did say, after all, Mum, that I met Penny to help pick out my parents' presents," said Gumball sticking to his version of events. He was sure the story was convincing enough for his mother to believe it.
"And that's what doesn't quite add up. We called Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald at 2 p.m. to ask if Penny had come home and it turns out she wasn't even planning on going to the mall with you to buy presents," interjected Anaïs leaning out of the couch. Gumball didn't know what to say. He was shocked by this. He hadn't envisaged a scenario where they were calling Fitzgerald to find out if Penny was back yet! Gumball opened his eyes wide, his hands began to sweat slightly, trembling. He didn't know what he'd said, but tried to improvise.
"Well...I guess it's obvious..., That she's not going to talk about such a plan! It was supposed to be a secret..." Replied Gumball uncertainly.
"Then where were you if not with her?" Asked an already slightly reassured Nicole. The son's improvisation was clearly starting to work, as a decidedly less nervousness was visible on everyone. His heart, however, was still doing the chase almost falling out of his chest.
"When I got to the gallery it turned out Penny wasn't going to be able to come out, I walked around the gallery and met Tobias. He invited me to come along so his dad gave us a lift to his place," replied Gumball.
"Oi, I actually thought of that pretty well!" Thought the cat when he said this. It sounded quite real, non-ironically this improvisation was coming out even better than good for Gumball!
"Tobias? After all, you barely put up with him at school!" Added Nicole Darwin from behind him.
"Well, I guess it's the magic of Christmas that's stopped making me nervous" replied Gumball gnashing his teeth.
Despite Gumball's nervous demeanour, it seemed that Nicole believed it, or at least didn't want to pursue the subject any further. She sighed in relief and her gaze went from aggressive and razor-sharp to indulgent and gracious.
"The main thing is that you're home now and you're okay," Nicole concluded. She hugged her son gently and let go. Gumball knew the improvisation had worked and Nicole was already at peace. The rest of the family seemed still slightly insatiable with Gumball's explanation, but since Nicole had let go, no one else was brave enough to discuss it further.
"Are you going to eat something?" Nicole asked softly.
"No thanks mum, I was eating at Tobias' when I left. I'm going to go upstairs to wash up and I think I'll go to bed...I'm very tired" replied Gumball sleepily.
"Sure, get some rest because it's Christmas tomorrow" replied Nicole confidently. Gumball nodded with a shake of his head then headed upstairs.
Literally climbing the stairs, Gumball headed first to his room to stash his earned money in a safe place. He was well aware that the piggy bank was one of the few things that no one else looked in but him, so he put the notes he got from the people he delivered the pizzas to and to Larry in there. He put the money in very gently from the inside, and moving away from it caused him a kind of pain, but he knew it was only temporary as he would need it again tomorrow.
Gumball then headed to the bathroom to have his dream bath. Just being locked in a warm room gave a lot of pleasure for the cat, who could be alone for a while in a warm, air-conditioned and quiet room. The next stage of relaxation came when he was able to take off his sweaty and thus slightly smelly clothes. Getting rid of his trousers, underwear, shirt and jumper, the cat felt free and remarkably light. His clothes, after a day's march in cold temperatures and warm outer clothing, were causing Gumball to sweat, and the effects of this could be felt on his clothes. A light-headed Gumball stepped into the shower, from where warm water began to pour down on him. This was just what he needed. Warm drops of water ran down his blue sweaty fur washing away all signs of fatigue and overwork that day. The warm fumes made Gumball feel isolated from the rest of the world. The shower cubicle was a bubble that confined the whole world and Gumball was right inside it.
He was slowly beginning to understand why his mum, Nicole would always lock herself in the bathroom for a shower for almost an hour and come out almost like a newborn with a great mood. Gumball, feeling the waves of pleasure, even started to purr involuntarily! He did it quietly and modestly, but nevertheless - he felt incredible pleasure. From time to time he would move the shower handset over his body shaking out his fur so that the water would soak deeper into his body. Gumball closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift off in thought for a while. He wasn't thinking about anything special - he was reminiscing about this afternoon, in which he had to work to force himself into even greater Signs of Pleasure and Relaxation. And it was working. Imagining how cold it must have been when he delivered the cakes and the warmth that currently surrounded him made Gumball feel better. Much better. Signs of fatigue and pain slowly disappeared and were replaced by pleasure and relaxation.
Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end. After a quarter of an hour of constant relaxation and contentment, Gumball decided it was high time to leave the bathroom and go to bed. A bath made him feel relaxed, but thus more sleepy. He came out of the shower all wet, not a single dry hair on the surface of his body. He wiped himself decently with a towel rubbing each part of his body 2 times to be sure he wiped himself thoroughly. He put on his pyjamas and went to his room. Looking at the fact that the whole family was still downstairs he thought it wasn't that late to go to bed, but he didn't care. All he dreamt of now was to go to bed. And he fulfilled his dream. Moments later he landed in his cosy bed hugging his cold pillow and closed his eyes. He didn't even have time to realise when he drifted off into a blissful sleep.
This was the day. The day when everyone in Elmore was reconciled with each other and everyone was like family to everyone at least for those few hours. It was that magical day when all disagreements magically fade away, buried underground causing everyone to be kind and friendly to everyone else. It was an opportunity to simply enjoy each other's presence and the chance to talk in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. It was a Christmas day.
In the morning there were gentle white patches of cloud hanging over Elmore symbolising rather calm weather throughout the day. After the snowfall during the night, the larger clouds dispersed or, forming one large cloud, moved to other areas to make trouble for other residents to leave home. Fortunately, the weather promised to be exceptionally sunny for Christmas and there was no sign that anything was about to change. Although the weather was an important factor in how people might feel on the day it did not matter as much as it usually does. Everyone was positive about the communal supper, which would be filled with the magic of the festive atmosphere and topped off with gifts as long as everyone deserved them.
The latter was problematic for Nicole and Richard. The woman was having a great deal of trouble falling asleep precisely because of this problem. Although she tried to think of anything to buy presents for her children, or at least to borrow them so that they did not have to suffer so much from their financial situation. Although Richard assured Nicole that somehow it would be done and they would manage to explain why they didn't receive presents that day, but the father himself said it with such embarrassment that Nicole herself didn't know if her husband was joking or really trying to give her some advice. It had been a really stressful day for them and even though it should have been a time where everyone was enjoying and celebrating over the course of that week both Richard and Nicole had sour faces. Gumball didn't ask why this was because he knew the situation perfectly well, Darwin wasn't brave enough to ask. Only Anaïs asked if there was something wrong, but she always received one and the same answer: "No, everything is fine".
As on the previous day, the day started very early for Nicole, as she had to continue preparing the dishes for the Christmas Eve table. Yesterday, Gumball's disappearance for the whole day left the woman unable to focus on her task and around 3 p.m. she stopped preparing for Christmas worrying about her son. Gumball never lied...so much so that he disappeared for a whole day! Eventually, however, she came to believe that her son was eventually at Tobias' house, but the situation was still on her mind. Even so, everything ended happily, so her only worry that was on her mind was the lack of presents for the children. She had no idea how to get money for Christmas. She asked for money from her boss for the next month, but assumed in advance that it wouldn't work out - unfortunately, she knew her boss too well to know that he would refuse immediately. And so it did. You could tell he chuckled at her for expecting such things from him, then hung up without even wishing her a merry Christmas. This nailed Nicole, who knew it was a last resort. She didn't want to take out a loan from the bank because she knew they couldn't afford the credit!
Taking all these factors into account, while doing the dishes in the kitchen Nicole wondered how to tell the truth to her children in gentle words.
Meanwhile, while Nicole had been doing dishes in the kitchen since early morning, Gumball was sweetly sleeping and there was no indication that anything would change. Yesterday had given him a hard time, he came home barely conscious and when he went to bed he didn't even remember covering himself with the duvet - he just touched the bed and fell asleep! It had been a very long time, or ever since he could remember being so tired! Sleep was badly needed for him, after working so much for a 12 year old it was no wonder he needed to rest for at least the 10 hours he had slept and there was plenty of indication that it wouldn't stop there. It's a shame that only Gumball knew that he had worked for 7 hours in these conditions. Surely his parents, family and especially Nicole would have been so proud...
At first, no one was surprised that Gumball slept until noon. It was nothing strange with him, especially when there were days off and he could lie in bed longer. When there was an opportunity, he immediately took it, trying to use this blissful moment of rest just for himself. During the winter holidays, it was a classic with him that even at midday Gumball would still sleepily walk down the stairs while the rest of the family was busy with themselves.
The situation was a little disconcerting when it was already 1.00 p.m. and there was not a trace of Gumball. The boy had gone to bed exceptionally early the previous day for him which wasn't surprising to Nicole as he had come home late, but everything had its limits - it was already 1 pm!
"Gumball! Come on down!" She called out from downstairs to Nicole, but a few moments after the call, no response was heard from the blue cat.
"It looks like Gumball is still asleep" Darwin communicated uncertainly. Nicole was a little concerned about this. She didn't want to waste time with further calls that probably wouldn't help - she decided to head to their room. As she walked up the stairs she listened to see if Gumball had accidentally got up, but the sound came from the creaking stairs.
"Gumball, are you up yet?" Asked Nicole softly as she stood by the closed door. She knocked gently on the door - further no response of any kind. So the woman decided to enter the room. She opened the door slowly and to her eyes was the sweet image of a sleeping Gumball, who, covered with a duvet up to his neck and turned on his right side, slept snoring quietly. Nicole's heart was quickly touched by this sight and she stood on the doorstep for a few moments trying her best to remember the moment. Covered by the duvet up to his neck, not seeing his already rather jumpy body from his face he continued to look like he was about four years old. Random memories flashed before Nicole's eyes of that time, when Gumball was an amazing troublemaker with incredible energy.
"Aww..." Nicole sighed at the image. Even so, she knew she had to interrupt this sweet and lovely moment. She walked over to the bed and sat on it at the level of Gumball's legs, then placed her hand on her son's torso and gently poked it to gently awaken him while saying quietly: "Get up darling". Nicole had gained so much experience over so many years of motherhood that she knew exactly what to do to wake her children gently. Her method, as always, worked. Gumball started muttering something to himself under his breath, turned onto his back until he finally opened his eyes lazily trying to adjust his vision to the already brightly lit room. Once his eyesight had adjusted to the light in the room he perplexedly glanced at his mother, who was sitting next to him staring at him with a warm gaze. The situation for him was a little embarrassing, as he did not know why she was sitting on his bed staring at him. Moreover, he didn't know how long she had been sitting next to him like that which made him a little embarrassed.
"Good morning darling, I had to wake you up because I don't think you would have got up today, and you probably know what day it is today don't you?" Nicole explained the situation. Gumball hearing her words immediately believed her. He calmed down and the feeling of uneasiness disappeared. He nodded lazily with a movement of his head, signalling that he remembered that today was Christmas.
"Good morning mum. What time is it?" Asked Gumball sleepily still. Even though he was awake, it was apparent from him that he was still sleepy and not quite making contact.
"1.05 p.m. You slept a little bit today sleepyhead" replied Nicole.
"1.05 p.m.?!" Repeated Gumball almost with a shout. He rose violently upwards causing him to hit his head on the top of the bunk bed. A surge of adrenaline made him feel the pain not very much, he rubbed the spot he hit and paid no further attention.
"Yeah, you're lucky I woke you up, because you probably wouldn't have woken up today!" Nicole nodded.
"Presents!...I mean, a present for Penny, I have to buy one!" Gumball communicated. Nicole climbed off the bed so that Gumball could do so too. He knew there was no time to waste, he had to go to the mall to prepare presents for his family!
"Mum, I have to go buy and give a present for Penny! ' Communicated the blue cat with seriousness. Nicole furrowed her eyebrows looking at him with a not-so-confident face.
"Gumball, I don't want a repeat of yesterday...we have Christmas today!" Nicole replied seriously as well. Gumball sighed heavily rolling his gaze from left to right. He walked over to a bag that stood next to his desk, then pulled out a jumper that had both his and Penny's silhouettes raised on it.
"This is a gift from Penny to me for Christmas. I need to buy her an equally special gift!" Gumball announced. For a good few seconds he had to stand still to allow his mother to look at all the details of the sweatshirt that were on it. The jumper actually looked great, to say the least, and the silhouette of Penny and Gumball and the red heart between them touched Nicole's heart, who smiled warmly when she saw the gift from her son's girlfriend. It was a truly special gift!
"Aww, that is indeed a special gift! Alright, fly to the mall to buy her something, but you have to be home before sundown," agreed Nicole, with the end of the sentence spoken in such a menacing tsk tsk that goosebumps went all over Gumball's fur.
"Of course mum, I'll be there on time" replied Gumball confidently, then like a shot he left the room and Nicole heard quick footsteps on the stairs heading downstairs.
Nicole remained alone in the room for a while longer, looking at Penny's gift. Although it was a great gift and she was moved by it she was even more devastated that even a girl was able to give a gift to her child and she herself was not!
"Where did I go wrong? Can't I buy my children even the smallest gift despite my hard efforts? Father Christmas, if you really exist please make my family have a happy Christmas," Nicole said in her mind. All she wanted was to see smiles on the faces of her family members, she did not allow the thought of Christmas ending in sadness and disappointment. But only the person up there knew how Christmas would turn out in the Watterson household.
Meanwhile, Gumball ate the breakfast that Nicole had prepared first thing in the morning and immediately went to the bathroom to have a toilet in preparation for the trip. Darwin and Anaïs watched his behaviour with a little perplexity - they didn't know what was making him so hurried. He usually did everything slowly and laboriously - to always finish his duties last. It was only when it occurred to Darwin that Gumball was about to buy Penny a present that it made them understand his hurried behaviour. At this time, Nicole came out of Gumball's room and decided to continue with the final preparations for Christmas. Admittedly, everything was done - what remained was setting the table and waiting for the star.
After the toilet, Gumball went to his room and dressed in his everyday attire. Before he left, however, he remembered the presents he was supposed to buy for his family. With his gaze, he searched for a bag in which he could leave the house without suspicion and would fit several gifts.
"Oh, after all...a backpack!" Gumball thought. He opened the wardrobe and took out his yet to be unpacked backpack. Generally Gumball's backpack remained in the same condition most of the time because he borrowed books from Penny and kept his notes in 3 notebooks. He was not a very diligent student compared to Darwin or (especially) Anaïs, who packed their backpacks every night to be ready for a new day at school. Gumball dumped his notebooks and pencil case on the floor, in the meantime managing to find the sandwich he hadn't eaten on the last day of school in the container - he threw the contents of the box along with the container into the bin. After emptying his backpack, Gumball picked up his piggy bank, checked that the money was inside and then put the piggy bank back in his backpack. Gumball was ready for his undercover operation, which was beginning to have its happy ending.
Together with the bag, the blue cat headed downstairs to leave the house. He put on his shoes, a scarf hat and his dad's big coat, which engulfed him to such an extent that it seemed that no one was in that coat !
"I'm going to go and buy and give a present to Penny, I'll try to get back as soon as possible" Gumball communicated.
"Okay Gumball, just be back before sunset...and I beg you, don't bother Mr and Mrs Fitzgerald with any trifles " remarked Nicole. Gumball was often able to occupy someone's head with trifles, silly things or (his favourite activity), talking about himself. Gumball nodded with a shake of his head then left the house.
During the recent preparations for Christmas, there was really little time to buy last-minute presents. Who knows if everything wasn't already sold out or prices had managed to return to their regular levels? Although Gumball didn't yet know what to buy his family, he had partly guessed what and who would like it best, but he still wasn't sure what to choose for the various family personas. What if they didn't like the presents? These were also the thoughts Gumball had in his head, but he believed he knew his family enough to find everyone a personal, dream-fulfilling gift with peace of mind.
Stepping inside the gallery, Gumball was enchanted by the lighting that prevailed in the gallery. The main lights that illuminated the gigantic building on a daily basis had been turned off, replaced by white, warm Christmas lights that were strung seemingly just about everywhere you could see. On the stairs, the railings, the ceiling, on the glass walls, they were everywhere! However, they gave an incredible sense of warmth. Their warm glowing colour gave a sense of security and a certain indefinable warmth. They were weaker than the panels that glowed on a daily basis, but they did that special magical Christmas atmosphere. An additional flavour to sustain this atmosphere were the Christmas trees scattered around the gallery, which were also not bare - they were decorated with colourful Christmas lights. There were dummy presents scattered under the trees and stars hung from the tops of the trees.
As it turned out, the shops were overflowing with people who, most likely like Gumball, were doing their last-minute pre-Christmas shopping. These included all sorts of groceries, extra baubles, lights or, as in the case of the blue cat, presents. As Gumball walked around the ground floor of the mall, he saw trolleys that were filled with cardboard boxes with presents waiting inside. At some, the presents were already wrapped in colourful papers with ribbons around them. Such gifts impressed Gumball, who pictured the moment his family received such presents in a quick glance in his mind. Perhaps the best thing about it all would be that Darwin and Anaïs would still believe in Father Christmas, they wouldn't even know they had a present thanks to him! Did he care that they knew it was because of him? Absolutely not! He wanted to see their happy faces and see them playing with their presents. He also wanted to see the pride on Richard and Nicole's faces. And especially Nicole. She had worked hard, he had heard her bitter words and her tears, when he recalled their late night conversation his heart squeezed when he thought about it. It was another thing, which was why he wanted to save this Christmas.
As his first shop, Gumball decided to visit an electrical shop. Darwin often listened to music on the computer, and as Gumball didn't particularly like the music his brother listened to he decided to just buy him headphones. Gumball looked around at different models of headphones, with enough money he knew he couldn't buy him the cheapest ones he could get his hands on - he had to make an effort and choose the ones that were the most value for money. Each headphone looked great, their descriptions were encouraging, but when Gumball decided to take a particular model he immediately found the 'better' one and so it went round and round. Soon Gumball decided to look for something else and moved away from the music listening rack.
Strolling through the shelves of various devices and gadgets, Gumball came across a glass display case that immediately focused his attention. He didn't even need to look at the device it contained, he recognised the console immediately by its shape.
"ElmorePlay 5!" Said the blue cat with infatuation. The console, in white, shiny, with a modernist look and shine, looked downright phenomenal! It was the gift Gumball had wanted for a present, it had been his biggest dream for several months! He looked at the price - it was $50 cheaper! Gumball's thoughts were now focused solely on the gaming console. So much time, strength and dedication he had put into this money he had earned! Now he was faced with the opportunity to fulfil his dreams and buy a new console, which he bragged about at school anyway and a gift for such work was due to him!
Gumball was faced with a tough choice. On the one hand, he had made it a priority to save his family's Christmas - he had promised himself this and was working stubbornly towards his goal. On the other hand - he had worked and sacrificed himself for everything to earn so much money! Is it all worth it for one console that projects an images on the TV?